A former Wisconsin police officer accused of stuffing the bodies of two women into separate suitcases and dumping the luggage on a rural road was charged on Tuesday with first-degree intentional homicide in one of the cases, according to The Associated Press.
Steven Zelich, 52, was charged in Kenosha County with killing an Oregon woman and hiding her corpse. Kenosha is one of the two counties where, authorities said, Zelich told police he had killed the women accidentally during sexual encounters, the AP reported.
"He may call it accidental. I call it murder," Kenosha County District Attorney Robert Zapf said, according to the AP.
Kenosha County District Attorney Robert Zapf said he chose to charge Zelich with the most severe crime possible because he didn't believe the deaths were accidents, the AP reported.
"Killing two women over the span of 15 months under the circumstances in which the defendant acknowledged, by gagging them with a ball gag in the mouth, ropes around the neck, hands tied behind their back, blindfold over their face. He may call that accidental. I call it murder," Zapf said, according to the AP.
Authorities believe Zelich met Jenny Gamez, 21, of Cottage Grove, Oregon, online and killed her during a bondage session at a Kenosha, Wisconsin, hotel in late 2012 or early 2013, the AP reported.
Authorities believe he also met Laura Simonson, 37, online, according to the AP. Simonson is believed to have died last November at a Rochester, Minnesota, hotel after meeting Zelich.
Zelich had not been charged in Simonson's death as of Monday, said Mark Ostrem, the county attorney for Olmsted County, Minnesota, which includes Rochester, the AP reported.
The suitcases containing the bodies of Gamez and Simonson were found in Walworth County, Wisconsin, on June 5, according to the AP. Zelich was charged there with two felony counts of hiding a corpse.
According to court records and testimony, Zelich told investigators that he met the women online, killed them accidentally during dates for sex and hid their bodies until they began to smell, the AP reported. Then he dumped them on the roadside, where they were found by highway workers mowing grass.
